How to Turn Any YouTube Channel into a Podcast Feed

Why bother turning YouTube into a podcast feed?

Most YouTube creators never publish an RSS feed. Their long-form interviews, weekly recaps, and audio-friendly content sit on YouTube — which means listening to them locks you into the YouTube app, with the screen on, and (without Premium) audio that pauses the moment you switch apps or pocket your phone.

A proper podcast feed fixes all of that. New episodes show up automatically, playback continues with the screen off, and the app remembers where you stopped. The trick is converting YouTube channels into that format without the usual hassle.

The old way: hand-built RSS conversion

The DIY route has been around for a while, and it's genuinely painful:

• Find the channel's public XML feed (which Google has been quietly making harder to discover).
• Run the URL through a third-party converter that strips the audio out of each video.
• Paste the resulting feed into your podcast app — and hope the converter doesn't go down next month.
• Repeat for every channel. Re-do it whenever something breaks.

Even when it works, audio quality is usually low, episode artwork is missing, and there's no playback position sync. It feels like wrestling with infrastructure instead of just listening.

The easier way: a dedicated YouTube-to-podcast app

YouCaster is a free Android app built for exactly this. You search a channel, tap subscribe, and from that point on it behaves like any podcast app you've used — except the catalog is every YouTube channel that exists.

Step-by-step: subscribe to a YouTube channel as a podcast

1. Install YouCaster from the Google Play Store. It's free and works on any modern Android phone.
2. Open the search tab and type the creator's name, or paste their @handle (e.g. @lexfridman) or full channel URL.
3. Tap the channel to preview its recent uploads. Each video shows up as an audio episode with title, duration, and publish date.
4. Hit Subscribe. The channel is now part of your library — you don't need a Google or YouTube account.
5. Press play on any episode. Lock your screen, switch apps, walk away — the audio keeps going.

That's the whole setup. Repeat the search for a few more channels and you'll have a proper listening queue in a couple of minutes.

New episodes show up automatically

Once you're subscribed, YouCaster checks your channels in the background. When a creator uploads, the new video appears at the top of your feed as an unplayed episode — the same model every podcast app uses. There's nothing to refresh, no feed URL to maintain, and no notifications begging for your attention.

If a channel goes quiet for a few weeks and then drops three videos at once, all three show up. If a creator publishes daily, you get a daily feed. It just works.

It remembers where you left off

Every episode tracks playback position automatically. Pause halfway through a 90-minute interview, drive home, plug into your car the next morning, and tap play — you're right back where you stopped, down to the second.

Finished episodes are dimmed in the list so you can see at a glance what's new versus what you've already worked through. If you re-listen to something, the position resets.

What it actually feels like to use

• Background playback works out of the box — no Premium subscription, no browser tricks.
• Lock screen and notification-shade media controls behave like any podcast app.
• Connects to car Bluetooth, AUX, and wireless earbuds without setup.
• Streams audio only — saves data and battery compared to keeping a video running.
• Chronological feeds, not an algorithmic timeline.

Channels people typically subscribe to

Pretty much any talking-heads format: long-form interviews, news commentary, founder podcasts, language-learning channels, tech analysis, finance breakdowns, history lectures. If the visuals aren't doing the heavy lifting, it's a good fit for audio.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need YouTube Premium?

No. YouCaster handles background playback itself, so you don't need any YouTube subscription.

Does it work with private or members-only videos?

No. Only publicly available uploads can be turned into podcast episodes.

Can I import an existing list of channels?

Right now subscriptions are added one-by-one through search. For most people the list of channels they actually want as podcasts is short — usually well under twenty.

Is there an iOS version?

Android only for now. iOS is on the roadmap.